The Glucola test is given to pregnant people to test for gestational diabetes and is both necessary and safe. Untreated gestational diabetes can have serious health consequences for both the pregnant person and the baby.
What is gestational diabetes?
Gestational diabetes occurs when a person has elevated blood sugar levels during pregnancy. In gestational diabetes, your body becomes less responsive to insulin, which makes it hard for your cells to take glucose out of your blood and use it for your body’s energy needs. The placenta produces a lot of hormones, and in people with gestational diabetes, placental hormones [archived link] can play a part in making it harder for your body to use insulin. It’s pretty common and happens in 3-8% of pregnancies. Gestational diabetes will usually develop around the 24th week of pregnancy.
There are a few risk factors for developing gestational diabetes, including: non-white ethnicity, family history of type 2 diabetes, history of gestational diabetes during a previous pregnancy, having PCOS, or having a BMI higher than 25. None of these risk factors are perfect predictors. Some people who don’t have any risk factors will still develop gestational diabetes, and not everyone with these risk factors will develop gestational diabetes.
You can learn more about gestational diabetes risk factors from the CDC and the study linked in the further reading below.
What’s in the Glucola drink, and are there alternatives?
There’s a lot of noise on social media about the ingredients in Glucola. Some of the Glucola drinks contain dyes, but if you’re worried about that, you can use the lemon-lime flavor, which doesn’t have any dyes. The dyes are also generally considered safe by the FDA [archived link]. There is also concern about Glucola containing Brominated Vegetable Oil but due to new FDA regulation, BVO will not be included in food products after August of this year [archived link]. Some people ask about drinking fruit juice as an alternative, but the type of sugars in Glucola versus fruit juice (dextrose vs fructose) are absorbed differently and thus won’t trigger the test in the same way.
Glucola is the only test that has been studied and shown to successfully detect cases of gestational diabetes. If someone can’t tolerate the Glucola drink (certain conditions can make it hard to drink it), it’s possible to do continuous blood sugar monitoring, but that isn’t validated. Getting your Hemoglobin A1C (a test used for other types of diabetes) checked isn’t an option either because with pregnancy, there is so much red blood cell turnover that it won’t be accurate.
There are two phases of the test: a one-hour test that looks at where your blood glucose is one hour after drinking Glucola and a second test that looks at where your blood glucose is after three hours. There are two parts of the test because the cut-off for blood sugar after the one-hour test makes it a little harder to pass. That’s because we want to make sure everyone who could potentially have gestational diabetes is accounted for because there are so many risks if it’s untreated (this is called a false positive test). So if you need to move on to the three-hour test, don’t panic. Many people who don’t pass the one-hour test pass the three-hour test. But even if you don’t pass the three-hour test, that’s also okay! Gestational diabetes is managed with your provider to keep your blood sugar where it needs to be.
Can I just skip the Glucola test?
You really shouldn’t skip the Glucola test. It is extremely important for both the health of the baby and for the pregnant person that gestational diabetes is diagnosed and treated.
A lot of this information can sound scary but it’s important for pregnant people to be aware of these potential problems associated with gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes can cause high blood pressure, preeclampsia, and cardiovascular disease in the pregnant person. Gestational diabetes can cause early birth of the baby (and potentially respiratory distress if the baby is born very prematurely and their lungs aren’t fully formed), excessive birth weight (which can be dangerous during delivery), and even stillbirth.
If I’ve been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Now what?
Don’t panic! Gestational diabetes is very common and it is a manageable condition. You’ll work with your healthcare provider to keep your blood sugar levels on target. Following a wholesome, diabetes friendly diet (e.g. smaller, balanced meals with a mix of protein and healthy carbs, like fruits, veggies, and legumes) and getting exercise can help manage gestational diabetes. In some cases, you might need insulin, but if this happens your healthcare provider will teach you how to use it. Remember, a huge part of gestational diabetes is due to placenta hormones, and it can happen to anyone.
Further Reading:
